Saveway Oil makeover

This picture of a gas station eluded identification, so we decided to get some help. We contacted Ken Steinhoff. He said it looked familiar, but he could not pin down the location. The major clue was the trolley track in the lower left corner next to Frony's shadow.

Ken contacted railroad buff Keith Robinson. We sent Keith the trolley track route and he responded:

"Using Fred's documentation of the streetcar tracks and then drawing them on a map of Cape, the pictured station is just south of the old Cape Girardeau Northern tracks on West End Blvd, east side of the street, now occupied by Norman's Radiator Service. On Google Earth, the semi-circular curb in the drive can still be seen and you can see the original window and door arrangement in the building facade. An additional stall has been added to the south side of the original two. The power line pole on the south side is the same one that was there when the picture was taken. I would speculate that the sign pole is the same pole that the large reflector light and the houses in the background fit the ones still there today."

So we took a picture of the scene as it looks today. We agree the power line pole could be the same, weathered and without the light today. However it appears the sign pole today is a larger diameter and is not the same as the large reflector light pole.

After Keith identified the location, it was easy to confirm with a check of the 1964 and 1968 city directories which list Saveway Oil Co. at 20 S. West End Blvd. The 1962 and 1970 directories list "vacant" at that location.

We guess that Frony made the picture about 1963 as we have found very few of his images were taken later with his 4x5 Speed Graphic camera.

Prior to Saveway Oil, the location was A.E. Landgraf Oil Co. as listed in the 1949 - 1960 directories. Arthur E. Landgraf was the owner. Before that it was Consumer Oil Co. in 1937 and 1942.

The aerial photo shows the A.E. Landgraf Oil Co., 20 S. West End Blvd., left, and Martin Oil Co., 10 S. West End. The Kimbel Truck Lines buildings are on the corner. Across West End to the west are Watkins Shell Service, 1401 Independence, later Williams Shell, owner John R. Williams, and Coburn's Gulf Service Station, 1402 Independence, owner Marion C. Coburn. The Boulevard Laundromat building is between The Country Store, the long building, and the Shell station.

For those interested, here is the documentation of the Cape Girardeau trolley tracks, taken from the book, When Missouri Took the Trolley, by Andrew D. Young:

International Shoe on North Main south to Broadway, west on Broadway, north on Henderson, west on Normal, south on West End Blvd., east on William, south a block on Pacific, east on Good Hope, north on Spanish, east on Independence a block to Main, north on Main to Broadway. Two blocks were added on Spanish south from Broadway to Independence, then a block east to Main, avoiding Broadway hill.